anyone heard anything about Evergreen Park Golf Course in Chicago?

[PThomas]

the owner passed away recently, which raises my question...

I wish some one would buy it and build a good/cheap muni, cause the current course there is pretty penal with too many trees for even a tree lover like me in parts....one of the hardest holes ever is there, some par 4 bordered by a railroad track on the right and trees down the left...and the conditioning there was pretty poor

..an urban Wild Horse if you will, that's my dream for that spot....but i wonder if it will just be developed over

[PCCraig]

Is this the course right by Beverly? If not, where is it?

[PThomas]

Is this the course right by Beverly? If not, where is it?

thats the one Pat

[J_ Crisham]

Pat, You are correct-it is across 91st street from our 13th hole. Paulit is my understanding that the club was sold to a developer and there will continue to be some greenspace but not a course. Too bad - I played my 1st round here in 1977.

[RSLivingston_III]

I would think Bev would buy it for a bigger, better driving/practice area.

[JR Potts]

Yep, Sterling Bay bought it.  I'm not sure on plans yet but I can email the owner.

[Paul OConnor]

Apparently, Pritzker money has funded the purchase, and the plan is to construct a shopping center. 
Frankly, that area probably needs new retail more than a shitty, money losing muni golf course. 
Good riddance to a real POS excuse for golf.

[Terry Lavin]

Apparently, Pritzker money has funded the purchase, and the plan is to construct a shopping center.  
Frankly, that area probably needs new retail more than a shitty, money losing muni golf course.  
Good riddance to a real POS excuse for golf.

Wow.  I'm glad Babe Ahern isn't alive to hear such vituperation!  She'd probably smack ya, Paul.

Evergreen has been in a very sad state for a couple decades as Babe aged and as the village repeatedly blocked her attempts to develop and/or sell the land.  Ultimately, she beat the village in a condemnation case in which the jury came back with $20 million, causing the village to back off and allow her to sell the land for development purposes.  A friend of mine tried the case for Babe Ahern, who was something like 103 when she testified.  Talk about a hard witness to cross-examine.  She was a profane, tough and colorful old "dame" who didn't suffer fools gladly.

As for Beverly, there were rumors way back in the day that the club would buy Evergreen and turn it into a 9-hole course.  That was probably fantasy, but there's surely no market for that land being used as golf nowadays.

Last point, many people learned how to play golf out at Evergreen.  I grew up in a working class neighborhood a couple miles from there and my brothers and I used to go through the garbage cans, find a receipt for green fees that someone had tossed and go out and play.  Sometimes they let us play even though they knew we never really paid.  It was also a bit of a golf mecca for people of color to play for many decades when they weren't exactly welcome elsewhere.  The golf course probably sits on 75 or so acres, with enough land for maybe 13 holes, but they squeezed 18 on a parcel that is divided by a working railroad line.  Paul is probably right in substance, if not tone, when he says it was a "shitty" course; it certainly had slipped over the course of time.  

But many a South Sider will lament the loss of Evergreen, despite its infirmities, and in an area absolutely flooded with big box stores, I can't imagine any civic parades if they throw in a new Home Depot or three in place of the old lady.

[PThomas]

another shopping mall, yippee

great story about the receipts Terry....I grew up near Midway and we'd take our clubs on the 63rd street bus, then another down Westersn sometimes to play there (when we didnt take the bus to play at Marquestte park...God, i wonder what kind of shape Marquette is in these days...)

I swear, if I had loads of money i'd have bought it and put in my urban Wild Horse course

[Terry Lavin]

My triad of courses played as a young teenager on the South Side included Evergreen, Marquette Park and Hickory Hills.  My dad was a Coca Cola truck driver and one summer we were living out on Harlem Avenue temporarily and our dad used to drop us off at Hickory Hills at 5:30 in the morning.  We'd throw our clubs over the fence, scale the fence and start playing, always on the lookout for an old receipt that we could wave at the starter, who usually winked and let us play.  There was no real way we could have afforded the $2 it probably cost back then, but we probably played 15-20 rounds back in the day, very seldom paying a greens fee, which absolutely tickled my old man.  He loved to sneak into ballgames, pro fights and just about anything that required his ticket.  His favorite scam was to wear the Coke uniform and roll a dolly into the stadium as if he was going to pick up some empty cases.  He also looked for a guy selling programs who was just about out.  He'd buy the remaining programs, give the guy a "fin" (five bucks in his parlance) and waltz into the stadium, yelling "Program, Get your Program"!  Those were the days.

[PThomas]

My triad of courses played as a young teenager on the South Side included Evergreen, Marquette Park and Hickory Hills.  My dad was a Coca Cola truck driver and one summer we were living out on Harlem Avenue temporarily and our dad used to drop us off at Hickory Hills at 5:30 in the morning.  We'd throw our clubs over the fence, scale the fence and start playing, always on the lookout for an old receipt that we could wave at the starter, who usually winked and let us play.  There was no real way we could have afforded the $2 it probably cost back then, but we probably played 15-20 rounds back in the day, very seldom paying a greens fee, which absolutely tickled my old man.  He loved to sneak into ballgames, pro fights and just about anything that required his ticket.  His favorite scam was to wear the Coke uniform and roll a dolly into the stadium as if he was going to pick up some empty cases.  He also looked for a guy selling programs who was just about out.  He'd buy the remaining programs, give the guy a "fin" (five bucks in his parlance) and waltz into the stadium, yelling "Program, Get your Program"!  Those were the days.

classic stuff!

yes, Hickory Hills....i still remember playing the short 18 hole course there once...a hole ran parallel to 95th st.....i hit a huge hook that crossed all 4 lanes and struck a house or condo on the other side of the street

not sure what happened since once i saw the commotion I walked quickly to the far right side of the fairway!

[Tim Nugent]

I did some studies for the Village when they were trying to condem it and keep it open space.  When I walked into the clubhouse, it felt like a episode of the Twilight Zone and I had been transported back to 1950.

Yes, the course was in terrible shape and it was biforcated by the rail line. But I did feel that the rail line also impaired any cohesive Retail use and therefore opined that the east side could go retail as there aready was such immediately south and it had major road access but the western half was more of a residential area and a 9-hole muni would fit in well and keep some of the open space.

Too bad, I'll take some golf course over another Big Box parking lot anyday.

[Mark Smolens]

My only experience at Evergreen was back when I was in law school, and my roomate decided we should play there because it was cheap -- it was, but worth every penny (and not much more!). Mrs. Ahern was there, sort of the Joe Jemsek of south side public golf, but a neat crusty old lady. I like Tim's suggestion for a 9 hole muni, or maybe even something like the par-3 under the lights in Des Plaines? The kind of place where kids could learn to play. There seems to me to be plenty of strip malls in the world. . .

[JR Potts]

I think it is still up in the air as to what 2011 will look like at Evergreen Park Golf Course.

I suggested leaving the mowers outside so that prospective patrons can mow their own course before play.